Wichita eagle., 1887-06-28
A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE.

from Inc Capital.
One of the most eloquent tributes to the
memory Of the men whose names have
been preserved in many Kansas counties
was recently made by Congressman Peters.
His reference also to this state and its
struggle for liberty and freedom during
the dark hour of adversely is eloquent and
grand, and no citizen of Kansas can read
it without drinking in the patriotic senti-
ment expressed by the speaker. The glory
of Kansas is her patriotic people, her
grand institutions, her exalted position in
the sisterhood of states, and above all her
proud record made during the period when
the enemies of our country sought to over
throw our government. Congressman
Peters tribute to Kansas and to the heroes
whose names are perpetuated in many
counties of the state is beautiful, and we
we give it in full, feeling assured that it
will be read with interest by all Kansans:
The grandest monument to statesman and
civilian, to freedom and liberty, to officer
and enlisted man, to war and peace, is our
own fairyland, the state of Kansas. 1t is a
scroll of earth's choicest Eden, hung as a
pendant from the stars by the Hand Divine
1t has been unfurled by the fathers and moth
ers the sons and daughters, the manhood
and womanhood Of fair Columbia. Kansas
was the first born under the dispensation of
freedom, she was christened In the fiery
tempest of war, and nurtured by natures
frowns in time of peace. Now she is dotted
with the homes of million and a half of
people, whose energy and intelligence have
spread her fame to earth's remotest bounds.
Read some of the names chiseled upon her
scroll by the legislative hand: Washington,
Franklin, Jefferson, jackson, and 9TH
ers speak of the glories of the
olden time, while Brown and Douglas and
others tell of that transitory period ushering
in the era of cur nations greatest trial
There are other names that have been CHS
eled upon her scroll since the war closed.
Listen Lincoln, Grant and Garfield, Stan
ton, Greeley, RawLns. Mcpherson, Sedg-
wick and Reno: Meade, Thomas and Sum-
ner; Morton, Seward ard Haskell: Logan,
Lyon and Kearney; Ellsworth, Barber and
Bar ton; Sherman, Sheridan and Wallace
these names and Others upon this scroll
represent all that is grand, noble and inspir-
ing They represent the heroic attempt
which claims and receives our homage
They represent the final victory. 1t
was Grant and Sherman, and Lo-
gan and Sheridan, all western born
and reared, trained in the precti-
cal school of western battle fields, that
closed from the east, the south and west over
the grave of rebellion at Appomatox, and
the banners of war were folded in the glories
of a conquered peace. Some Of these names
represent death upon the battle This death,
as in the cases of Mcpherson and Kearney
and Sedgwick, came oftentimes sudden and
unexpected in the ringing notes Of the stir
ring conflict But we are reminded, also, Of
tie unrecorded agony of those who, having
fallen upon the field helpless and torn with
shot or bullets, felt the crushing feet of their
own comrades, with whom they had marched
shoulder to shoulder in the eager charge to
grasp the fruits Of victory grinding them
into the earth and increasing the suffering
and agony Of the dying moment